The Difference Between Red and Crimson
by Anais.P
Summary: There's a difference between simply being alive and actually living. Just as there is a difference between everyday-red and deep crimson. TakiXMitsu Modern day AU with many of the other SC chars. Starts off slow  if it ever gets past 'start'. R&R?
1. Monday

She's young, single, and rather content with her paced life in the the big city as the immediate secretary of Raphael Sorrel- owner of De'Rouen Enterprises and also one of the world's most flamboyantly eligible bachelors- and she simply does what she must to pay the bills and get by.

_He_, on the other hand, is driven to do whatever he likes-ambitious at his own gain-, slack, and lives one day at a time. Routine isn't routine until its recognized as such but either way, what happens when it's interrupted?

There's a difference between simply being alive and actually living. Just as there is a difference between everyday-red and the deep _crimson_.

...lol sorry if that sounds lame. Please continue.

...and R&R if it's not too much..?

7:34 a.m.

Monday morning. After an unusually heavy weekend, the snooze button was guaranteed to be subject to some abuse. But not this snooze button. A gentle press was what quieted the alarm before at it's first wail when 7:00 had hit. The gracious administrator of these actions was currently curled up underneath the coal gray of the sheets. The decorative bedspread covered with designs of random creamy sea waves was falling halfway off one edge of the bed. Two identical cream balls of fur were curled up against the bigger lump on the bed. A cellphone sat on a black rounded cube-like nightstand next to the alarm clock and a picture of a young woman with short brown hair and matching bright brown eyes holding up the piece sign lit up the screen of the phone with the alert of the 3 new text messages. Her lively smile and the bright phone contrasted the darkness of the spacious room. The sun couldn't even show through the window-dark curtains made it nearly impossible for any ray to shine through.

7:35 a.m. The alarm started beeping once again.

"Maow."

One of the balls of fur yawned and stretched languidly, jumping off of the bed and leaving the bedroom with another loud meow. The second cat followed suit, but stayed within the room and called out a string of meows meant to wake it's master. The bundle cringed underneath the covers as the alarm clock continued it's tirade and the loud cacaphony of siamese cats in the morning interupted her heavy slumber. There was an exasperated sigh as the alarm was hastily cut off. The covers fell in a rather pretty cascade from the inhabitant, a woman, as she pushed herself up stiffly, her face scrunched in the darkness. She sat there for a little while, blinking in the darkness before sneezing and finally stirring. She washed her face with her hands, trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes and rubbed her neck. The cats continued to meow together in the kitchen. Loudly. Sniffing, the woman extracted herself from the warmth of her sheets and stretched long and languriously as her cats did, showing off a lean, yet also curvy frame.

Her arms flopped to her sides and she sighed again when she noticed that she'd went to bed in nothing but her lingerie and an earring in her left ear. She removed the earring on her way to the master bathroom and picked the matching one from up off the floor, depositing it into a little black mini jewelry box decorated with silver glitter amongst other black decorated boxes. A crimson sweater dress and some black leggings were swiped up from the bathroom floor and thrown into the bedroom. They'd be put away when there was time.

Some scampering was heard in the room.

"Sorry Rekki," she apologized in a soft low voice that came out in a tired, but waking sigh.

She ran a hand over one side of her face and ran both hands through her dark-brown bed-head. She looked at her ivory reflection in the mirror in thought. She looked at her analog clock that hung in her walk-in shower. It almost read 7:40. If she was efficient with her time, she'd be able to shower, get dressed, call her 'friend' and chew them out, and still be out of the door by eight. Maybe she should check to see if she could skip washing her hair. Grabbing some of her armpit length locks, the young woman sniffed and crinkled her nose. She removed her underwear quickly and proceeded to take a nice steaming shower. She couldn't figure out how the smell of smoke and alchohol had managed to permeate her hair for so long. Then again, she couldn't even figure out whether anything had permeated _her_ last night.

She washed her hair quickly and conditioned it just as fast. Washing over her voluptuous frame, she did her best to recall the events from the night before.

She remembered being persuaded to go out with her friend and coworker along with some others...

They obviously went to a club of some sort... And she had most likely come home alone. Granted, her companions had allowed her to blackout and do heaven knows what, but Taki didn't trust many and knew that her companion would not have allowed a stranger to come home with her...

Taki froze in the middle of laving and stared at her foam covered arm as she grimaced, trying a little harder to bring to mind what happened, especially whether or not she had done _anything _with _anyone_. She couldn't even remember what she had to drink.

Everything was fuzzy-her memories seemed to be under the influence just as she had obviously been-and she had only one person to blame for the whole thing. Rinsing her body, she frowned with chagrin at her situation. She should have been more careful of herself. Her limits should have been known to herself even if she had never been to a club. Or really drank at all.

The two cats now roamed the kitchenette and were still meowing just as loudly if not louder since they were more awake. One of them returned to the bedroom and ventured into the bathroom and placed its front paws on the vaguely opaque door of the shower and proceeded to meow at it's owner.

Emerging from the shower smelling of vanilla and brown sugar, the woman dried off quickly and wrapped her dripping hair with a towel. Quickly, but without rush, she walked into her room completely, put on a black matching set of underwear and dressed in a white long-sleeve button up and a slate colored pencil skirt that stopped a little past the middle of her thigh. Deciding against tights, she went ahead and put on some black pointy high heels and grabbed the matching jacket to her skirt.

"Mmmmaow." "Maaaaaooooooow."

A sigh. " Alright, Rekki. Calm down, Mekki, I'm coming."

"...Maoooow."

While still running a brush through her damp locks, the now presentable woman grabbed a bag of kibble from the pantry and filled the bowls of the two identical siamese cats. She also filled their two other bowls with fresh water and set them next to their respectable owners. She put a pair of simple pearl colored studs in her ears as she knelt down and pet both of her furry companions, apologizing for the wait. They immediately began to pur loudly while smacking and crunching on their breakfast. A small smile graced her features as she rose and went to retriever her cellphone from her dark room. A mental not was made for her to clean her room as soon as she came home from work when she stepped on her sweater dress that she had removed from her bathroom floor earlier. She was fastidious by nature; everything had it's place in her home especially the things in her room.

Quickly grabbing her things and throwing her hair into a stylishly messy bun, she rushed out of the door only to return shortly and pick a set of keys from the hook next to the front door, shaking her head. Her daily morning routine had been disrupted and it was a nuisance.

The bigger of the siamese cats, Mekki, was in the window watching her leave down the stairs of the flat when she finally noticed the alert for five new text messages. They were all sent within the same minute a little after 2 in the morning, which was mildly surprising. Even though she hadn't gotten much sleep, she felt alright, but she was still shocked at how late (or early) she'd gotten in. The fact that more seasoned clubbers could party until actual dawn the next day was unknown to her. She had no time for messy bouts of groping, drinking, and cigarette smoke while listening to blaring music in a packed matchbox of a building. That hadn't stopped her persistent coworker from persuading her, obviously.

Beginning the walk to her job in the crispy fall weather, her eyes perused the five short text messages as a thread...

TAKI.

OMG.

U.

R.

WILD.

The caps screamed the words as if the young chinese woman was actually walking next to the slowed japanese woman, yelling at her as if she were deaf. Her dark brown eyes widened as she stared at her phone, still walking and effectively avoiding any people or obstacles.

What the _hell _had the chinese girl she dared to call a _'friend' _gotten her into last night?

After much re-reading and editing and pondering...I'm deciding to post this.

This was originally gonna be called "Besides the Point", but while reading over this chap, I got more ideas for possible later chapters. I thought this new title'd apply.

I'm trying to do something a little bit more serious with this one. I really like a good Taki and Mitsurugi pairing.

This one has me nervous too, though :S. If it sucks, I might not post anymore of it. Let me know what you guys think?


	2. JayWalker

So I looked at the 1st chapter of this story and was not happy with the errors I overlooked. :/  
I'll just have to do better!

I received a review and it made all the difference :D. I'll keep this up as long as I get reviews so I know I'm not posting for nothing.

* * *

The walk to her place of employment would be short; Taki had decided she'd deal with the sender of the text messages during her lunch break and walked briskly on her way. A vehicle was considered an unneeded luxury when only four blocks seperated her from her destination. She continued her quick pace without noticing the varied sly looks and lewd stares she received from many of the men as she passed; their eyes roamed her curves in motion, but Taki took no notice. She never did.

"Yo Taki! How's your morning goin'?"

A guy with fair skin and black smoothed hair, save for a long piece of his forelock that swung freely as he moved, jogged across the street to meet up with her. The pedestrian traffic light read stop though, and traffic was still in motion. An oldsmobile slammed on it's brakes, sounding it's horn as the driver behind the wheel exclaimed and gestured in anger. Fuming, he rolled his window down. Manually.

"Watch where the FUCK you're walkin' man! The light's RED!"

"Fuck you! I have the right of way! Hit me and I'm suin' your ass!" Maxi yelled back as he pointed to the ground while flipping the driver the birdie.

The man rolled his window up as fast as he could as the raven haired man crossed the street casually with both his middle fingers raised at the driver. The vehicle sped off with the driver yelling another obscenity and so ended the little scene that was caused. Taki had watched in only mild amusement and shook her head, sighing when Maxi finally made it to her side, smoothing his hair with a comb that seemed to come out of nowhere. He was annoyed, but he straightened his already immaculate hairstyle with a cool, calm, and collected poise. She blinked. The mini-comb was dark blue, she noticed, as he pushed it into his pocket, and so were his slacks and his tie was, too. She blinked again at him. Maybe the fact that his comb matched his clothing was only coincidental. This was probably the first time Taki had ever taken note of his appearance, or him as an individual which led her to question why he was here now, anyway. _'Well he is a colleague at the offices_,' she reminded herself dumbly. _'It's a normal thing for him to be greeting me. We do work at the same place...'_

"...Maxi," she greeted him a little stoicly. "My morning has been fine." Idle chatter wasn't really one of her fortes, but her coworker didn't seem to mind her lack of zest, for he smirked at her response. "Yours?"

He grinned down at her and ran a hand over his sleek hair. "Same here," he replied as he checked her out carefully, casually giving her a quick once-over but stopping fast at her jacket covered button-up. _'No cleavage..? Damn._'

Taki nodded at his response though she was quickly distracted by her thoughts of interrogating a certain chinese brunette about the happenings of the past night.

Wait a minute.

Her eyes cut to the left and narrowed as she pondered deeply, causing Maxi to tear his eyes from her and casually look to the sky, remarking about the cool weather they were having today. She nodded again but was still preoccupied. Maxi, on the other hand, took advantage of her little reverie and let his eyes roam her figure once again as she slowly pried the lid off the chest of her hazy recollections.

There were two men with her and her friend, she recalled with triumphant realization. One was tall and rather muscular with brown hair and a light tan. _'But his name...'_, she thought as she dug deeper. A few seconds passed.

KILIK...! That was his name! And now that she remembered it, she truly felt like an idiot because he was also one of her coworkers. A real facepalm moment, this was.

She frowned. Now for the other one; he had black hair that was smoothed all the way back, he was also tall, had dark brown eyes...and was loud. He got mad when someone bumped into him for 'messing up his'...-

Taki's head snapped up as she looked Maxi square in the eye; her eyes widened fractionally and she felt like a dunce for more than the first time in 10 minutes. The taller man wore a smirk-he'd been watching her and skillfully took his eyes off of her rack as soon as he sensed her exostential moment coming to an end. _'Heh...she'll never catch me._' His smirk turned into an easy grin at his slick thought.

"Maxi," Taki started calmly as her face took on it's usual seriousness, "You were there last night. At the club."

He nodded at her statements, still grinning. "Oh yeah. I'm glad I went with you guys 'cause I never thought I'd see you in one..." Trailing off, he rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, giving her an appraising look. Taki didn't like it.

It was obvious that he knew something that he didn't. Even though the slightly anxious feeling in her chest wanted her to do otherwise, she dismissed the suspicion for now. Getting the information from Maxi would be a waste of time and she would not allow herself the shame and embarassment. She'd follow her initial plan and wait until her lunchtime to confront the peppy troublemaker. The lid that held her memories tight had closed and locked for the time being. Taki began walking again.

"Crazy night, huh? I think we should do it again sometime. Whadaya think?" Maxi asked as he easily fell into stride with her quick steps. Her answering smirk was sardonic. "...Hm." '_Yeah, right. Maybe next time I'll forget my name.'_

"..."

"..."

"So, gorgeous, whatcha had for breakfast?"

She sighed at the pet-name. "...Nothing... and don't call me that."

"Want me to take you to that new coffee shoppe on Main?"

" No thankyou, Maxi. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"You got that right," he muttered to himself as he cast a sidelong glance at her bust in motion. He smirked and appreciated the fact that he worked in the same building as the full-bosomed woman. _'Thankyou, God...'_

"What?" Taki's low voice invaded his musings.

"Uh-It's nice and bright this morning, huh?"

"...Hm."

* * *

... RISING JAYWALKER OF THE ZODIAC! *roooar* Haha. I like Maxi and his eyebrows. This chapter reaaaallly wrote itself. :D Reviews are helpful and appreciated. Sorry it's a short chap though D:

Hope you enjoyed!

P.S- :3! Thankyou ObviouslyTima. for being the first to review(and the only one right now lol) my first chapter. I know I already said, but I really appreciated it!

*end n00biness* :D


	3. Mind Eraser

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm very grateful.

Thankyou again, ObviouslyTima. And you're right.

I'll go on ahead with this story on my own basis.

I hope you'll like it as I continue!

* * *

Uttering a few polite good mornings to the switchboard and reception employees, she made her way through the foyer and to the building's ground floor elevator with Maxi walking beside her all the way(winking and waving at the many women doing their jobs). Taki felt a sense of foreboding as Maxi continued his mainly one-sided conversation of things like how pleased he was about his scheduled hours this week, and complaining about the paperwork he'd have to sift through before he actually found his own stack to make records with, no thanks to a "pain-in-the-ass" blonde named Cassandra.

"I mean, yeah, she's easy on the eyes and everything," he explained, sounding peeved just talking about it, "but sheesh- she's such a...- I don't know what she is!" He shrugged emphatically for lack of better words and pressed a button on the numerical pad a little harder than normal.

Taki supplied him with a "Hm.", but her mind was still occupied with getting answers to her burning questions. Maxi continued to go on about how he just didn't know why the flaxen-haired woman was so temperamental and inconsiderate. When he began thinking up theories, Taki decidedly tuned him out.

"Does she PMS like...more than most chicks?" He glanced at Taki quickly with his hands raised defensively and shaking his head back and forth. "No offense! I mean...I've never-... Hey...do you PMS..? "

"Goodbye, Maxi," Taki said, signifying that they'd reached his cubicle-ridden floor. He chuckled and returned the farewell as he began exiting the elevator cab but was intercepted by a surly looking young woman with her blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail save for her bang and side-fringes. Her cutting green eyes which were currently dicing Maxi up narrowed as she put her hands on her hips and scowled up at him. Some employees stopped what they were doing in their cubes to watch the disturbance with amusement. She'd been waiting for his arrival by the elevator for a little while, apparently.

She spoke in a biting, accusatory way. "Kilik told me that you were at my desk last week. _After _I left for the day. I'm _missing _some documents." A random employee shouted _"Fifty bucks on Cassy!"_

Maxi cringed at her voice and cursed himself for talking about her in the first place as he straightened and looked her in the eye. "Yeaaaahhh...and?" _'Damn sell-out Kilik and his honesty...'_

"I just told you, dummy! I'm missing some papers!" She practically screamed in his face.

"Alright, Cass jeez! Calm down, will ya? I'll get them as soon as you stop looking like you wanna tackle me to the floor!" He quirked a suggestive eyebrow at his last statement. "Unless that's what you really wanna do, _Miss Alexandra_."

"Oh, shut up," she spat and continued with contempt," Just find my stuff and bring it to me. I want it in my hand! Got that? And move outta the way; you're stopping Taki from getting to where she needs to go!"

She grabbed at Maxi's tie, much to his surprise then aggravation, and was about to successfully yank him from between the elevator doors that had tried to close twice with him in the way before Taki spoke up.

"It's alright. I have a little business to take care of on this floor anyway." Unaffected by Maxi's shocked expression, she added, "I was only waiting for you to finish."

Cassandra laughed and said, "Well I'll just wrap things up here, then. Sorry to be in the way!" She yanked forcefully at Maxi's tie, snatching him out of the doorway-he had been trying to get free during the two women's little exchange. "Get outta her way!" A decorative faux-floor plant toppled over as Maxi stumbled into it and out of Taki's path.

"You were the one who had me in the way!" Maxi wailed when she slammed him against the wall next to the elevator doors, causing a nearby file cabinet to rattle, and the other employees to _ooo _and clap at the rise in action compared to usual humdrum of the office work daze. He cursed at his fellow colleagues. "Why are you guys letting this happen!"

"Because you deserve it," Cassandra sneered matter-of-factly as she pulled at the length of his tie with her one hand while the other held its knot. It tightened around his neck and he grabbed her wrist, stopping her from pulling any more. '_Why the hell is she so strong? And why the HELL is she PMSing so hard?'_

"Cassy, please! I told you I'd get them! What more do you want!" Even in danger, his smirk found a way to the surface of his features. "If it's somethin' I specialize in, I'd be more than happy to give it to you."

"Shut UP!"

Taki had already exited the elevator and looked around, nodding at the mirthful employees who uttered a 'good morning' among many other greetings to her. She headed a little ways down an aisle of cubicles, ignoring the low whistles and the usual sly comments and questions- _"When you gonna let me take you out to dinner?", "What size are __those __anyway..?", "That's a pretty short skirt." - _and gazed around. Before she decided to return to the elevator and revisit the communications floor later, she heard her name being called and getting louder...and louder. The source was the very reason she had been preoccupied all morning. It looked like she wouldn't have to wait to confront the woman after all.

Before the woman could yell again, Taki interrupted, "Xianghua, I hope you're not busy." The shorter woman slowed her happy bounding, but continued her lively advance toward the more mature woman, a smile on her features even though the aforementioned woman looked pretty annoyed. The smiling brunette answered with unabashed cheer.

"Nope. Not right now..." She trailed off as she peered behind Taki at Maxi finally escaping from Cassandra's wrath while she shouted at him and stomped off to her desk. She shook her head and sighed at the site but suddenly broke into a full toothy grin. "Did you get my messages this morning?"

Taki simply shot her a withering glare as she headed toward the employees' lounge for some sustenance and a little privacy from the nosy glances that followed Xianghua's excited question. Xianghua, practically bubbling with excitement, squealed and followed her moody friend into the lounge. She clapped her hands quickly as she giggled and Taki thought about not adding sugar to her coffee; it seemed like the over-stimulated friend of hers had had enough sugar for the both of them.

"Well?" Xianghua asked, impatience leaking into her voice as she watched the Japanese woman stir some vanilla creamer into her beverage and lifted the paper cup to her lips, purposefully ignoring her. Placing a thoughtful finger to her chin, Xianghua muttered about whether the creamer was the coveted secret to upping a bra size.

"You always add vanilla creamer...is that how you got them so big?" She asked innocently and Taki stopped sipping and gave her a disturbed look over the cup's rim. Glad that her question had done its job in getting the subject's attention, Xianghua continued, "Well you added like...five creamers to that cup. Most people would have added like...three! All of _that _must go _somewhere..._"

Taki ignored the Maxi-sounding remark and sipped her exquisitely flavored cup of decaf. She finally spoke.

"What went on last night?"

The authoritative intonation made it known that she demanded an immediate answer-no question was asked. Even so, Xianghua still held a playful smirk. Having gotten used to her friend's intimidating personality, she was unfazed and her reply was animated.

"Ohh, you mean at the club? It was _sooo _much fun!" She hopped up and sat on the counter adjacent to Taki, who leaned against the wall and gestured as she spoke. "They played great music for once and the DJ was great and so were the drinks and _OMG _it was just so much_ fun_!" She continued to ramble on about all of guys she'd danced with, which one did what, and whether they tried to hit on her afterward or asked her to flat out come home with them, to which giggled coyly at the memory. "There's only one guy I'd go home with," she said as she folded her arms and a child-like pout arose on her features. "But he passed out at the bar next to Maxi after about four shots. It's nice to know that the guy doesn't get crazy but _gawd_..."

Taki sighed and disposed of her cup. She did feel a tiny bit of sympathy for her friend's annoyance with her obvious love-interest, but that was another one-sided conversation for another time. She was worried about what she herself had had to drink that night, and how she had acted. Though she wished fervently, she doubted that she had only 'passed out'.

She decided to cut to the chase after uttering an apology for Xianghua's frustration.

"Xianghua, I meant me," she said in a low voice. "I think I... I blacked out..."

Xianghua's head snapped up in surprise. "Huh? Blacked out? But I barely gave you-..!-Ohhh...Oh yeahhh."

Judging by the guilty smile on her face, whatever Taki had ingested was because of Xianghua. Before she could utter any kind of threat, Xianghua had her hands up in a defensive manner and was trying to appease the demonic aura that began to emanate from her, saying things like "It was only a _teensy _mix..." and "I drink it all the time and my mind doesn't get erased!" and "But you said you liked it!". Before Taki could say a word, the two were joined by a third. Xianghua was lucky, Taki thought as she did her best to contain the anger in her Xianghua-aimed glare, because she was just saved by the boss. '_It seems that this will have to wait until lunch after all_,' she thought sourly.

Xianghua's whole demeanor changed when she noticed the tall, pale, blond-haired man wearing a rather impressive and aristocratic looking teal suit. She smiled and hopped from off the counter uttering a breezy, "Good morning, Mr. Sorrel!"

He returned her greeting with a kept nod and smiled at her. "I trust you're morning has been well, Xianghua?"

"Of course, sir," Xianghua answered with a playful curtsy. "I was just talking with Taki about last night with Taki. We went to the club and had one heck of a night, if you know what I mean..!"

Noticing the way the president of Sorrel de Rouen Enterprises looked at Xianghua's reply, Taki knew it was time to get to her desk.

"I apologize for my late arrival, sir. It's because of your worker here."

Xianghua looked flabbergasted, but recovered smoothly by saying, "Sorry about that, boss. It was my fault for inviting this party-animal out. You know how we girls do: Party 'til the crack'o dawn! Seriously, you wouldn't believe how crazy she gets when she's away from her desk, sir!"

The president's amber eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Taki, my little secretary, parties until the crack of dawn?" He looked at Taki, still incredulous. Xianghua's head bobbed quickly.

"Never woulda guessed it, huh?"

"No. Not at all…How…'crazy' does she get?"

"Sir, were you looking for me," Taki cut in, glaring at Xianghua. The other woman simply shrugged, innocent as always.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Right. To our desks!" He turned with his finger raised in the air and was just about pushed out of the lounge by Taki. Casting a last look over his shoulder, he uttered a farewell to his sassy employee. He finally exited the doorway and Taki turned to her mirthful friend.

"We'll finish this conversation during lunch," she said.

Xianghua waved her off in a shoo-ing fashion. "Hurry to your desk! You wouldn't want to keep the boss waiting!"

Taki glowered, but left Xianghua alone in the lounge and caught up with her boss. He was speaking to the blonde woman who had bullied Maxi earlier. She was sitting at her desk as a completely different woman; smiling and giggling coyly, swooning obviously, and acting noticeably dumber just to get Mr. Sorrel to help her for as long as possible. He didn't seem to notice at all though. Not even when she fiddled with her top buttons to her silky cerulean blouse to reveal some cleavage did she get a response. He simply explained what it was she had to do and answered her questions patiently and amicably, giving her an encouraging pat on her head when he finally finished explaining and she had no more questions.

"It's easier than you think, love," he said as he straightened and turned to leave. "Ask your coworkers if you need any more help. It's simple, really."

Taki shook her head at Cassandra's expression. The girl's eyes were as wide as saucers and a grin was slowly making its way on her face. From another cubicle, Maxi's head popped up. He shook his head in disgust at Cassandra and waved at Taki. Taki nodded back and brown-haired head popped up from a cubicle adjacent to Maxi's. There was a tired look on his face when he turned to see what Maxi was waving at but it immediately switched to one of awareness and he waved at her, smiling a little sleepily. A small smile graced her lips as she waved back and headed off to the elevator where Raphael waited patiently. Xianghua emerged from the lounge with a steaming cup in her hand. She waved at Maxi and glared at Kilik who sighed and looked doleful as he retracted his head from above the cubicle barriers. Maxi chuckled and also resumed working. As the elevator closed, Taki caught a glimpse of the Chinese woman making her way to the still-mystified Cassandra. Even as they ascended floors, it was unbelievable how loud she was.

"…He called me**_ LOVE_**_!"_

Taki cast a sidelong look at her boss, who was smirking. He was relishing in the aftershocks of his effect, no doubt, and Taki inwardly face palmed at the amount of characters she worked with-and for-at the building.

* * *

This chapter was gonna be three times longer...but after rewriting just about everything I wrote on looseleaf(and adding scenes like the one with Cassandra), I figured this would be enough to stand by itself in a chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it, cuz I liked writing, editing, then rewriting it and adding on. :D! As the author, I'll try to speed things up so that _(blank)_ is introduced a little quicker lol. I have so many ideas...! Really, I'm enjoying writing this story alot.

Note: Mind Eraser is an alcoholic drink w/ a mix of vodka, kahlua coffee liquor, and tonic water(says the recipe site. I'm sure there're other ways to do it). I've heard stories...but have NEVER tried'em. :S I'm not sure I will anytime soon either haha!

Til next time!


	4. Odd Gossip

After being defeated by Garland in Final Fantasy Dissidia (argh.), I am posting this.

Just like in the last chap, I had everything written out on paper, but changed it drastically.

I was gonna go by what I wrote on my looseleaf yesterday, but for some reason, I just didn't feel like going into my room to find my notebook. It was probably sudden laziness, but because of it, I went ahead and typed whatever I had in my head. Ideas, Ideas, Ideas...

Thank you CoF666[glad to make your day..! :D], Amy, Lauren, and 'Tima' (lol)! I always appreciate the reviews! I'm glad you guys like the pairing just as much as I do. Between you and me, I've only read 2 fics w/ the pairing that I really like.

Well anyways, on to the chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Oh man...and I keep forgetting! .

For the past 3 chapters and this chapter here-on, I don't own Taki, Cassandra, Xianghua, Maxi,..._(blank)_...nobody except the generic, nameless workers and characters! Namco owns Taki and them.

There. NOW I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"Taki, you look stunning today, as usual."

Taki mentally addressed her convenient outfit and thrown together hairstyle a bit self-consciously while Mr. Sorrel looked down at her. She tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear.

"...Thank you sir."

"It leads me to wonder how stunning you looked last night while doing whatever you did…"

Sigh. Taki shook her head, annoyed. The tall Frenchman chuckled and thankfully didn't prod any further just as the elevator stopped and opened up to a hall with floor to ceiling windows all the way down it. They allowed a thorough view of the city's perpetual momentum along with other tall skyscrapers and business buildings that crowded the area along with local restaurants and bars. Cars, dog walkers, random pedestrians, the occasional odd looking fellow trotting along in a variety of colors and patterns or a simple, yet conspicuous trench coat-all was the norm and was always trying to get to or from somewhere in an endless loop of routine and activity.

A round, pleasant looking woman pushing a small cart full of cleaning supplies for the windows stopped when the President and his worker stepped out of the elevator. She smiled and greeted the pair with a warm 'hello'. Taki simply returned the greeting whereas her overly friendly boss stepped up and remarked about the woman's attractiveness despite her janitorial uniform. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, his waiting secretary let out a puff of air through her nose. When the woman began to blush at the charismatic man's flirtatious advances, she couldn't help the fraction of a smile that crossed her lips when the woman girlishly tried to hide her smile. It looked like he was successfully buttering up another defenseless female staff member of the building, be she married, or single (married, most likely). No matter what, he always had time to appreciate the women of his workplace and they always appreciated his attentions (and seemingly inadvertent propositions). There were some females who tried their best not to be swayed by his charm, but sooner or later, they always melted in his grasp. As an openly eligible bachelor and experienced ladies' man, he never had trouble charming the very lingerie off of any woman he wanted. Any woman, except for one, that is, and she was closer in rapport and reach than any of the others, ironically.

The janitor giggled like a young schoolgirl. In the midst of their conversation, the blond man had advanced on the bashful little woman and, holding her hand, placed a lingering kiss on its back.

"Even when using cleaning supplies day in and day out, your skin manages to remain so soft and supple. I am very grateful for your work here, Julise."

"A-all I do is clean the windows around here, dear," she stammered smartly. She tried to keep her composure, but Raphael's charm was not lost on her. She placed a steadying hand over her most likely hammering heart as her lightly tanned cheeks reddened even more. His smoldering amber gaze lifted and found her wide eyes. Her voice got quieter. "...I-It's a pretty easy job..."

"Well you do an exquisite job, my dear."

He pecked her hand again and slowly lowered it as he moved back to Taki's side. Taki watched his display and actually rolled her eyes this time. Julise was spellbound, to put it basic terms.

"...T-Thank you...Mr. Sorrel...sir."

He waved at the older woman as he and Taki continued on their way down the hall, leaving the janitor to stare after them for a few beats before snapping out of it and getting back to work. Upon looking up, a smile could be seen on his features. '_Is this why he comes to work every day_,' Taki thought as they passed a few doors on their way down the long hall.

"Now, as we were."

Finally situated at her semi-circular desk and workstation, Taki leaned back in her chair, relieved at finally being able to be productive. With a farewell wink and words, Raphael had continued down the hall to her left and entered his office and Taki had happily took her place behind her double-leveled desk. As the hefty desktop computer booted up, she pulled out her personal laptop and set it next to the bigger machine. She surveyed her work spot. Everything was the same, despite how unusual her weekend and morning had been. A few decorative plants were still on the eggshell floor of the junction and various nuetral paintings hung from the walls like always. Adjacent to her desk sat two single chairs with a wooden circle table between them stacked with magazines. Everything was the same. Something felt off, though. Taki could sense it.

Like something was slowly changing.

She shrugged off of her jacket, and with it, the weirdly intuitive feeling and draped it behind her office chair.

As if one crazy night would change everything. It didn't seem likely. Life wasn't that streamlined to be so easily affected by one event.

She signed into the computer and pulled up her email where a few new messages and junk mail awaited her. Nothing odd about that. After a few moments of deleting spam, a yellow slip of paper on the higher level of her desk caught her attention. Someone probably came by looking for her at her normal hour and left it. Mentally berating Xianghua, she plucked the sticky note and read the scratchy writing.

_'I wanna take you out sometime. Call me.'_

- _A. from accounting-_

The slip of paper was flicked into the waste basket without any regards for the cellphone number scribbled underneath the little line. The workplace was not a place to focus on petty things such as 'taking someone out sometime'. She shook her head at her admirer's stupidity. It really aggravated her that he was more worried about a potential date than getting his work done. What an idiot. And what was more idiotic was the fact that his note was not the first that she'd ever found on her desk.

'It's the middle of September and that has to be the twentieth one,' she mused, rubbing her forehead in irriation. _'Men. Senseless fools.'_

Of course Xianghua, whenever she visited Taki's desk, would probably go through her waste basket and pick out the number for entertainment purposes. Idly rolling her chair back in front of the desktop, Taki recalled the brunette _carefully_ (stress on the carefully) picking out a piece of paper from her trash one day and giggling to herself. She had texted the guy's phone, pretending to be Taki. The real Taki didn't pay Xianghua any attention until the next day when the same guy came to her desk asking if he'd made her 'hot' from the pictures he sent her because he had been just from texting her. Of course, Taki had no idea what he was talking about, so she regarded him with cold indifference. With another woman, the poor guy would probably have laughed it off and pushed on with his indecent questions, but with the calculating Japanese woman, whatever hard-on he had was deflated on the spot as she calmly suggested that he 'not bother her with such petty _little _things and return to his desk'. Upon exiting the building for the day, she was confronted by her happy-go-lucky friend who asked her about the guy and burst into peals of laughter when Taki repeated what she had told him.

"HAHAHA! It was the size of my _MINI-STAPLER_," she guffawed, hanging on to a confused and slightly annoyed Taki's arm. "HAH! 'Petty _little _thing'? No kidding!"

Well, at least that love note wasn't as suggestive as a few others had the nerve to be.

While still reading a few of her emails, Taki lifted her phone from off its hook and hit the 'message' button. She flinched at the shrill voice that met her ear on the other end.

"Taki? Takiiiiii! Are you there? Aww you're gonna be late this morning, huh? Well you should go out with me and Kilik and Maxi more! You'll build up a tolerance to the nightlife!' Taki grimaced at Xianghua's pause, then her loud laugh. 'Well I sent you some text messages! I'm sure you got them by now-OHMYGOD, Taki! ...Oh, Maxi's not here either..?" There was some noise in the background. "Hm. He's probably just a little hung-over but he'll be over it soon enough. Not like Kilik." An exaggerated, heavy sigh was heard. "Anyways, Taki…-OH. MY. GOD. Last night! We have to do it aga-"

The delete button was mashed and a curse was muttered under her breath for listening to the pointless rant about last night. Now she was on edge about finding out again. Thankfully, the next message was from was from someone with sense.

'Hello, Miss Fujioka. This is Elisa Kay from the switchboard...um,' she trailed off then continued quickly, 'I have an important meeting with Mr. Sorrel. If you could call me back whenever possible at my extension, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!' Click.

_"Odd,' _Taki thought to herself. The woman sounded a little dodgy about her request. A _personal_ meeting? What was so important that she couldn't fill out a form of request or complaint and hand it into human resources? Well, it wasn't any of her business, so she called the woman back and spoke briefly with her. After doing that, she dialed Raphael himself.

"Oui," he answered on the first ring.

"An Elisa Kay from the switchboard says she has a meeting with you, sir. Is this true?"

"...Ah, yes." He chuckled. "I nearly forgot about her." There was a desiring edge in his voice that didn't go unnoticed.

"She's on her way up."

"Right, send her to my office immediately. Thank you, dear."

He hung up and Taki resumed emptying her email of worthless junk. Every few days she'd get calls like that one from the female workers requesting a 'personal meeting' or to remind her to let the president know that it was 'urgent'. Taki crossed her legs and began typing up the scheduled weekly newsletter to send to all of the employees. She sighed and shook her head, a look of mild disgust on her features.

"...Men."

"You actually got _boobinator_ to go to a club? Which one? And where the hell was I?"

"Stop calling her that! We went to the nice one uptown."

"Oh, the big one! I love that place! This one time I went there and saw this hot, sexy beef-muffin blondie who-"

"...Beef-muffin, Cass?"

"What? He was yummy looking. Anyway, you must be talking about Edge. Was the bouncer a tall black dude with a weird golden eye?"

"Oh my gawd, YES. He was scaaaaryyy. I think his name was Z or whatever...?"

"Yep. That was Edge. So, what's up with Taki?"

"Well...I think she forgot everything about last night..."

"Huh? How the hell do you forget everything? She remembers _nothing_?"

"I dunno..! And I guess not..."

"Well, what did she drink? The Taki I see around here would know how much she could...- Wait, has she ever had any..?"

"Uhhh..."

"Don't tell me you threw her to the wolves in there! You know those bartenders love exploiting the weaknesses of newbs...especially lady-newbs!"

"Especially the ones with nice racks!"

The two whispering women both glared at a laughing Maxi who was meandering over on his way to the restroom. He shrugged. It was the truth.

"Shut up, Maxi," Cassandra hissed, motioning for him to keep his voice down. She turned back to Xianghua, who was still peeking over her cubicles wall into Cassandra's neighboring one. A smack met the chinese girl's hand as she tried stealthily to snag a king-size pack of M&M's from the blonde's desk. "Mine!"

"Owww...! Cass, you don't need any chocolate anyways. I thought you were going on a diet..?"

"I am," Cassandra harrumphed, whipping around in her swivel chair to place her sacred M&M's into a drawer secure with a 4-digit combination lock. "M&M's are nutritiously delicious. Now, back to Taki and Maxi getting the HELL OUTTA MY FACE."

Maxi had closed in on Cassandra at the mention of her being on a diet. Eyebrows raised and mouth open, he feigned a look of utter shock, looming over the sitting woman who openly tried to ignore him. "Cassy? On a diet? Whatcha tryin' to lose?"

Cassandra stood and looked him square in the eye and was about to say something along the lines of "fuck the fuck off" before Maxi reached around and pinched her butt, causing her to utter a tiny noise of surprise instead.

"Hn...I wouldn't lose this, if I were you. It's nice and soft, just how I like it," Maxi said as he slowly withdrew his hand from her backside. He knew that while she was stunned, it was best to move away slowly, but efficiently, and without any sudden movements. Leaving the flabbergasted blonde standing on her tippy-toes and the barely-surprised looking chinese woman to their own devices, Maxi continued on his way to the boy's room with a snicker about her wearing a pair of man-slacks. '_Shoulda been wearin' a skirt or somethin'. Oh well. Cassandra-1. Maxi-1. At least we're even_.' He plopped down in his seat triumphantly and began to type away, smirking. Kilik looked questioningly over the barrier between them, but didn't say anything. His head was still blaring and he tiredly rested his head in his hands.

"Cassandra...just calm down," Xianghua said, trying to sooth the blonde whose face looked like it was left out in the Sahara desert on the hottest day of its summer. "He was only kidding...! You know he does that a lot."

Slowly, Cassandra did sit down, but her eyes were focused somewhere else.

"...I think I'll hit the gym tomorrow instead of just going on Wednesday," she muttered distractedly as she pulled her M&M's back out of her security drawer and began munching. Xianghua sighed and held out her hand. Cassandra poured some of the chocolate snacks into her hand without blinking.

_'Well Maxi's lucky she isn't as upset about him groping her,' _Xianghua thought as she munched gratefully on her blue, red, and yellow oblong treats. She knew Cassandra well enough to know that her body was always something she obsessed over even though everyone else saw nothing the matter with it. It would be awesome to have hips as curvy as Cassandra's and a butt as full, too. At least that's what Xianghua thought.

"Um, anyway," Xianghua began, to which Cassandra snapped out of it.

"Huh? ...Oh yeah! Like I was saying...You didn't know Taki doesn't drink? How do you _not_ know that?" Cassandra gave her a funny look. "...And why on a big, fat Sunday?"

"How was I supposed to know," Xianghua whined, exasperated. Yes, she was very close to her, but she didn't know what she wouldn't tell her. Xianghua considered her a very good friend who was more private about her life than most very good friends. It was never considered a problem between the two. Not until last night when she had begged her to try a combination of drinks without knowing whether or not she had some sort of tolerance...

"And it was a spur of the moment thing, ya know? We were all wrapped up in the fun, and Taki was too!"

"Sheesh, Chai. Some friend you are," Cassandra snorted having turned back to her computer and resumed typing. Xianghua's head lolled on the wall that separated them guiltily. Her neck length hair managed to cover her face as she solemnly agreed to Cassandra's remark.

"I let her try some Jell-O shots and she didn't mind those...I let her try the STP (of course I didn't tell her what it stood for! Heh heh!)...and she said it was pretty sweet..." Xianghua couldn't help the slow giggle that spilled out of her mouth. Cassandra couldn't hold in the giggle-snort.

"She said that..?" At Xianghua's nod, she burst into peals of laughter, earning a few curious looks from her coworkers. When the two of them got their laughter under control, Cassandra asked, "So what else did you let her try?" Xianghua's answering look made the Greek woman swivel her chair back towards her friend eagerly. "Oh Gods...what did you make her drink, Chai?"

Xianghua looked embarrassed and uncomfortable...but Cassandra's expectant yet stern look took her back to when she was a young little lotus flower in her mother's nice home back in China. Whenever Xianghua got in trouble, her mother would give her a look of equal scrutiny that injected an invisible truth serum into her bloodstream, infecting her with a case of word-vomit...

"Xianghuaaaa. What did you give herrrrr," Cassandra prodded, waving a red M&M in front of the disturbed face.

"MIND ERASER," she blurted out and hung her head over the separating wall as if she had literally vomited the name of the fated drink.

Cassandra gasped, gaped, and smiled at the same time. "You didn't," she all but shrieked. When Xianghua nodded mutely with her head still hanging, Cassandra turned mutely back to her computer screen, still smile-gaping. After a few moments, she turned back to Xianghua and repeated herself. "...You didn't!"

" I did," she grumbled. "...And she liked that too, so it's not like I threw it down her throat! Taki's a big girl. She knows how to say 'no'." All Xianghua had wanted was for her always systematic/workaholic friend to get out and enjoy life a little! What better way to do that than to go clubbing with a pretty chinese chick and her band of goonies (Kilik and Maxi) while trying a few drinks, one of which was quite potent, even for seasoned drinkers?

"Well, after that, what _didn't_ she say 'no' to...?" The blonde woman muttered thoughtfully aside before addressing her chinese gossip-mate once again. "You're the one who practically dragged her by her ankles to go out. Everyone heard you begging her all last week, Chai."

A grimace crossed Xianghua's face. That was true. But it still wasn't her fault! Taki could have politely declined...and she did. Numerous times. That hadn't stopped Xianghua from asking again. And again. And again.

And again.

"Back to the point though. What happened after that? Did she, like, loosen up?"

This time, her head lifted, and she was back to her old self, complete with an excited smile.

"Oh my gawd, Cassy...you have no idea! There was this dude who-! Oh, and she was-!"

"Get-to-work-or-my-ass-is-snitchin'." Maxi coughed coherently enough as he walked by on his way back to his desk.

Xianghua looked annoyed, but then laughed at herself as Cassandra fumed and grudgingly returned to work. As Cassandra muttered obscenely about how she wanted to castrate Maxi among doing other inhumane and illegal things to him, the former returned to her work and read her desktop's time: 10:51 a.m. She sighed. Anxiety was beginning to creep up on her as she thought about what was going to go down in almost the next hour and a half. Even so, she was excited to be reunited with her oh-so-serious friend and let her know the details. It just wasn't right to gab to Cassy before she gabbed the truth to Taki. Xianghua wasn't a lot of things, quiet being number one on the list, but she was a _usually _loyal friend. 'Usually' being Taki's word of emphasis.

She had to remember to thank Maxi on her break for stopping her from blabbing. She popped her last M&M in her mouth and hoped that Taki would be in a jolly mood when lunchtime came. Her vivacious friend's life probably depended on it.

* * *

There you go..!

I recently bought Steamboy on DVD. It's by the same guy who made Akira. I've never seen Akira, but I've heard nothing but good things about it. As an incentive for finally posting this chap, I will be watching it tonight. *big smile* :D

I like Cassandra. I'm just not very good with her in-game. I love her SC II throws. I haven't had a chance to really play SC III (broken Ps2) or IV (no Ps3), but I love the way she looks in IV.

Anyways, in RL, I've gotten some really good news. ^_^ I haven't had any in sooo looong...I'll post the details on my page sooner or later.

Thankyou again for reading!

Note: STP used in this case has nothing to do with the STP in chemistry. **STP **stands for 'Sweet Tight Pussy' which, as the name implies, is a sweet type of drink(...LOL). It's popular with females ( or so says the drink site I got that from). Think 'green popsicle' in terms of taste.

PS:: I beat Garland's ol' heavy behind in a rematch. *final fantasy fanfare music* Also, _(blank)_ is soon..!


	5. Hangovers

_For those who wanna skip the sex-time scene...it's right below. ( x\ It's not much...lol. Just in case though.)_

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There was light shining through the emission blinds, yes, he could just about see that much. He reminded himself that he should close them sometime as a stray ray made contact with his face. A lesser headache began to develop, and he grit his teeth in annoyance and pain and...-what was this- _Pleasure_? Something was moving back and forth, his slow processes a result of a night of the usual festivities. His room was moving back and forth. What was it, an earthquake? A slow glance was cast over to his bureau which was covered in everything from clothing to cigarettes to condoms. Everything a guy like him couldn't live without. His muddled brown eyes left his bedroom furniture and landed on his digital clock. His eyes slowly adjusted as he rocked; 12:20 p.m. he read with a minor sense of vertigo no doubt caused by the incessant jostling. After a full minute of staring at the clock, he finally figured that it was his bed that was moving and that was when he remembered his lower half which was feeling quite bare minus one thing.

If there really was an earthquake, he'd be the first to die, thanks to his slow thinking he thought sarcastically.

Maybe he drank more than he should have. He was usually pretty sharp. Maybe he shouldn't have knocked back so many mixes one after the other. Despite these thoughts, his lips twitched into a small smirk. How else would he have been able to sleep dead-to-the-world through the rambunctious riding, the heavy pants, and the indecipherable moans she uttered as his woman of the night occupied herself with his body. That along with telltale squeaks of the mattress surely would have the tenant in the apartment underneath complaining once again.

Squinting at her with her bleached-blonde hair and averagely fair skin, the man ran his large hands up and down her naked thighs. He didn't get the impression that she noticed, and he didn't mind since he was content with watching her breasts tumble out of her skin-tight tube-top. Eventually she did notice though and was obviously very happy for she began to hump him with seemingly renewed vigor. Great. He'd brought home a lively one. Good thing she was petite; not that he held any complaints towards curvier women. It was just that if the woman on top of him were stronger, despite the amount of muscle on his body, he was sure his head would have hit the headboard what with the amount of energy this woman had. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when said woman's hands smacked into his well-toned chest, and her blood red nails, easily comparable to a wolverine's claws, dug into his skin.

'_Damn..._'

That hurt like hell, he knew that much.

This woman was livelier than he remembered her to be the night before. Then again, there wasn't much he could remember from the night before in his current state. The preoccupied jockey of a woman cursed and commended him, moaned and yelled as she loudly announced that she was nearing her peak. He, on the other hand, gripped the sheets with his eyes shut, trying to shout out his worsening head pain. Odd how both of his heads felt like they'd explode any second, but on opposite ends of the pain and pleasure stick.

A scream filled the room and she finally came undone at the same time as him. He, grateful for the good time and the end of her reckless riding, began to doze off underneath her once again with an exasperated groan.

His head was going to be killing him when he got up in the morning.

...Wait. It was already morning. Again, he was usually pretty sharp.

Fighting the urge to run a hand over his face in annoyance, he simply laid there, eyes already closed, scowling. The lady took no notice and seemed to re-energize in no time flat. He listened to her giggle, a generic, uninspiring noise, and felt her lift her upper half partially from his body. She was probably looking him in the face expecting, waiting for something. She probably wanting a "good girl" and a cute smack on the behind. Maybe a "That was some great sex that I enjoyed overall, and I hope you enjoyed it, too" kiss. None of these possible desires were good enough reasons for him to halt the effects of a hard night with good sex coupled with a hard morning of overall good, albeit rough sex. Besides, he honestly didn't care what the girl was feeling since he'd gotten enough of what he was looking for ...included with side effects- his hammering headache.

"Mmm, that was great, huh?"

He felt her lips moving against the beating pulse of his neck, and her cheek was resting on his hair. There was a tug when she continued to nuzzle his neck as if they were real lovers and this irritated him. He remained adamant in letting the aforementioned effects play their part in keeping him sedate; only his scowl responded to her administrations in deepening when her fingers found his hair and began tugging lightly as she twirled and ran her fingers through. Thankfully enough, his already dulled senses were dimming and he would soon fall asleep. Vaguely, he heard the woman question him again with a huff then, vaguely, he felt her lift herself from his body. She was probably annoyed, but he could have cared less as he blacked out.

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Taki regarded her so-called friend through insinuating eyes. She sipped on her refreshing cup of warm lemon-mint tea as she watched her so-called friend just chatting it up with their waiter, flirting with him since he had brought Taki's tea and Xianghua her pink lemonade. She was stalling, Taki knew. She'd been since they'd met up outside the building and walked the few minutes it took to get to Long's, a simple restaurant that offered dishes small enough not to over sate but big enough to call lunch with the choice of eating in the little nook or outside on the gated patio. She narrowed her eyes and took a sip from her paper cup. Her so called friend would not be able to avoid the issue for much longer.

"Ya know, I love a guy with deep brown eyes like yours," she was saying with her head between her hands to the guy. "They make me feel like I'm staring into a nice, warm cup of coffee especially on a day like this."

Her expression flat, Taki watched as Xianghua dazzled the young waiter with a smile and he, bedazzled, smiled back and fumbled with his pen and notepad.

"So what can I get you two ladies?"

"A garden salad."

"I want an order of half a dozen fresh donuts-straight out of the oven, please!-with a ham and cheese croissant. And a garden salad. With croutons."

"Alright. Will that be all, ladies?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Yep!"

"Alright, I'll have everything out in about five minutes. Don't go anywhere."

Only Xianghua giggled at his attempt at being suave.

"We aren't going anywhere! Don't worry, cutie."

She blew a kiss and laughed when he blushed. The young man was walking toward the cafe' doors when they burst open and a tall, burly man with graying brown hair and a graying brown beard stepped out. He looked pretty foreboding as he stood with his arms crossed in his dark-blue and gold trimmed traditional Chinese robe complete with matching gold-trimmed shoes. All under a cooking apron of course. Everyone on the terrace clapped when he came out including Xianghua and Taki. It was mutual show of affection from the patrons to the owner of the little cafe'. He worked in the kitchen with a few others and didn't usually check-in with his customers which was why it was a treat to see him getting up close and personal. The older man bowed as the clapping died down and had a huge smile on his face when he came back up. Taki watched with mild interest as he addressed everyone on the terrace with a booming voice.

"It brings me great happiness to see everyone out here enjoying themselves, chatting, laughing ... gossiping..." He cast a fine-lined eye in Xianghua's direction, and she looked at him in mock shock. He chuckled as did a few others. "It brings me even more happiness to see that everyone enjoys coming to my place and enjoying my food! I tell you, if I died tomorrow, I'd die a happy old man!"

"Dad, you're not even fifty yet."

He looked at the young waiter who was still standing where he had since cafe' doors opened. His huge smile turned into a scowl.

"Lei! What are you still doing out here? You're a waiter, boy! Get moving!"

Lei quickly shuffled past him and in through the doors, but not before receiving a smack on the head as he passed by. He muttered a few things that were best left unsaid in Chinese and looked back at his audience with his huge smile once again.

"Everyone enjoy, your stay and the food and I thank you for eating at Long's!"

Everyone clapped again and Li Long waved, bowed and smiled before making his way to Xianghua and Taki's table. Taki smiled at the man and Xianghua laughed.

"Everyone eat at Long's, where we love you Long time," Xianghua intoned in her impression of the owners booming voice. Taki shook her head and simply smiled. Li Long grimaced at the line; Xianghua had been trying to get him to say it to his patrons for added humor, but he and Taki both knew she'd be the one most tuned into the receiving end of the humor. She even suggested he add the signature line to the sign that read Long's on the top of the little cafe', to which he heatedly declined of course.

"Nice to see the two of you ladies here again," he said, and then added with a sarcastic edge, "I thought one of you would have come here with a special guy?" He eyed Taki and Xianghua expectantly as he placed his hands on the little square table.

Taki rolled her eyes and sighed. "Long." She really didn't feel like hearing his usual jibes at her relationship status.

Xianghua sighed and pouted. " It's not my fault he's as dense as a doorknob."

"Well...what about you, Taki? Meet anyone you like who's as dense as a doorknob?"

She cut a look to him and crossed her arms. That was enough of an answer. The older man chuckled at the his two favorite patrons' opposing situations. After a few more jibes and jokes, he patted Xianghua's head (And ignored her complaints about how he'd just come from the kitchen-he washed his hands all the time! How dare she insult him?) and uttered a farewell to Taki. He returned to the cafe' and before the swinging doors swung shut, he could be heard admonishing the workers in the kitchen in his native language. Xianghua laughed when she saw his son, Lei, once again receive a smack to the head. Taki chuckled at the old man's antics, but now she could finally deal with what had been irking her all day, she thought as she sipped at her cooling tea. Xianghua was doing the same, she saw when she glanced at her.

"I love coming to Long's for lunch," she finally addressed her with a smile. "His son is always so cute, and the food is great! I wonder how Miss Chie is doing. I'll have to tell Mei Mei that I came here, but then again I always come here, so why tell? Haha! I'm glad the sun decided to come out too so we could eat outside. The little things in life are just the best. Spending time in good weather, at a good restaurant, with good friends-who-we-love-and-care-about-so-much-we-would-never-think-about-hurting-them...good times, huh, Taki?"

Taki took a small sip of her tea and set it aside. Xianghua had a smile frozen on her face as she did her best not to show her intimidating friend that she was, indeed, a little bit intimidated. She already knew the first thing that was going to come out of her friend's mouth based on how she sat back in her chair with her hands relaxed on the arm rests. Her eyes betrayed her relaxed body language, and Xianghua felt herself getting nervous as Taki continued to watch her.

'_Why is she staring at me like that?_'

Xianghua tried not to fidget and casually crossed her legs and straightened her light-blue scarf around her neck. _'I hate when she stares at me like that!'_

After what felt like too long, Taki finally interrupted the unintended staring match.

"I'm waiting, Xianghua."

It was hard not to flinch. Taki had a small smile on her face as she watched her friend sip casually on her lemonade. Xianghua did her best to appear calm, she thought she was doing pretty well until she noticed the smile from the woman sitting across from her. That smile could mean anything, but in this situation, it could be narrowed down to two: One being that she was enjoying watching her friend squirm mentally and two being that she was enjoying watching her friend squirm AND she was getting annoyed. It was probably the latter. She looked up at her friend who was still looking at her expectantly. Her small smile was fading. Yep, it was most likely the latter. Probably the latter of the latter.

"Well...," she drawled after inhaling a breath, "What do you wanna know about?"

Well, that was a dumb question. Taki confirmed the dumbness of her question with a fractionally quirked eyebrow.

"..."

"Okay, okay! Gosh Taki, don't give me that look! Alright...I'll start from the beginning."

Xianghua took another deep breath and smiled tentatively at Taki, who sat forward some, as she did her best to retell the events of the past night.

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Through blinking, half-lidded eyes, he looked at his dresser's mirror and tried to make out the writing. His eyes were blurry. He scratched his head and lifted himself off of his bed andpeered into the mirror. His eyes were a little red. That could be cured with no problem. A hand made it's way to his forehead as the accursed headache revisited him. He groaned and took a look at the obnoxious red lipstick scribble on his mirror.

'_Thanks for the good time._' A heart followed the message.

Not exactly the worst was to be greeted once one rose from bed, but it wasn't exactly the best way either. He would have laughed to himself about the message, but he didn't want his head to pound any harder than it already was. So, he gazed at the message with only a smirk and then guided himself out of the bedroom, down the short hallway and into the bathroom. Shutting the door, he looked into the mirror and was me with a sluggish-looking, scowling reflection. The headache was still plaguing him. In the medicine cabinet, he found the cure as he emptied three pills from an aspirin bottle into his mouth. Such was the procedure for treating a hangover of this calibur. After downing a cupped handful of water, he splashed some onto his face. He ran a hand over his face and paused at his goatee. He assessed his appearance minutely; his slightly sun-tanned skin, his squinted, almond eyes, his sharp, Japanese features, his muscled and well-toned body, the crescent-shaped scar on the upper-right of his chest along with a few other minor scars-reminders of years past- ...and the claw marks. He blinked again and scratched at his head through his long ebony hair that hung untamed down his an abrupt motion, he turned from his reflection and turned the shower on hot. He stepped in, already bare, and proceeded to bathe quickly and efficiently. His thought weren't on last night, or whether or not his lady of the night had made it home safely. What was going through his mind was what he was going to be doing the present day. He stood in the shower long after he finished rinsing off producing an opaque layer of condensation on the mirror.

When the bathroom door finally opened, steam clouds rolled along with the scent of mountain spring and spices. He barely stepped out into the hallway, towel wrapped around his waist and water rolling down his body and dripping from his hair. He wiped some dripping water from his face and rubbed his chin as a smirk surfaced on his hard features and a single-syllable of a chuckle made it's way from his throat. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, obviously.

"Mitsurugi."

Translation: Good morning, but I'm a little pissed at you. Prepare yourself for the onslaught.

Mitsurugi rubbed at his dampened neck and tilted his head inward, massaging the kink out of it. Through bored eyes, but with a smirk that told otherwise, he looked down at the petite, yet full-chested blonde who stood in his path as she usually did on mornings like this, glaring. She wore a bright blue tank-top and some tiny red cotton shorts, showing enough pale skin to gawk at, but Mitsurugi was used to seeing her in what she wore, much less on occasions. One would think the two were an item, but that was not the case. In the past, there was something, but due to wandering desires and tendencies to roam solo on one person's part (who with no problem pleads guilty), the two were content for the most part with living with one another just to get the bills paid. That is, until mornings like this one happened. They were civil to each other, but things weren't always content when the one with work the next morning was stuck in their room listening to various "bumps" in the night and a cacophony in the morning.

After casting a minute look at her overflowing cleavage, the freshly showered man spoke, still wearing his smirk.

"Setsuka."

Translation: 'Morning. I am prepared, but just so you know, you'd best be prepared also.

As if she caught his meaning, the glaring woman glared even harder, narrowing her eyes at his look. She was daring him to try something and he decided against it; his head was still pounding, but only with a fraction of it's initial intensity. Even though he was sure they'd both enjoy themselves, it would be wise to leave her alone. There were other things that needed to be done.

"What the hell was that this morning," Setsuka practically growled. When Misturugi didn't immediately answer, she coldly added,"You could have at least completely closed your door. Do you think I want to hear you or any slut that you walk in here with late at night and early in the morning? Have some decency."

He regarded her with little interest, but he did apologize for leaving the door open just to calm her down. It only halfway worked.

She smiled, but her blue eyes remained icy. "You have to be such a _dog_, don't you?"

If one looked close, one would have noticed how his cocky smirk weakened. He chuckled at Setsuka's words and moved forward, causing her to move backward and into her own door frame. He loomed over her, holding his towel around his waist with his left hand and ghosted a thumb over her smooth chin. Her look was incredulous when she heard his words.

"You chased this dog, didn't you?"

She slapped his hand away and he smirked once again, satisfied with her reaction. He turned from her and made his way to his own room and shut his door. He dried off, dressed, then pulled his hair into a low ponytail that hung down his back. He pulled on a light jacket, grabbed his cellphone and cast a searching look across his room. He never had to look for anything since it was always where it belonged even though his room could be described as untidy. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he left his room and was about to be hit in the face by a projectile. Expertly, he grabbed it from the air. It was what he'd been searching for, and he tucked the wallet into his pocket. Setsuka was scowling at him as she headed from the living room to the bathroom.

"Siegfried came by and dropped that off."

She slammed the door and he heard her muttering about how much she loathed him.

"Why do you always leave the seat up?"

As he walked by the bathroom, he apologized again to appease her. She shouted at him to shut-up, so he continued on his way to the living room. His eyebrows raised fractionally when he saw all of his clothing from the night before covering the couch, the coffee table, and the floor. No wonder she was so upset. He chuckled inwardly and put his things away in his room. He returned to the bathroom door.

"I'm leaving. Anything you need?"

"I'll need for you to get the hell away from the door."

She was still mad. Oh well. A day at work would calm her down. He did as was told, and left the bathroom door. He'd thank Siegfried and see if the guy would leave his apartment for some fresh air and possibly a trip to the gym. An able bodied man shouldn't sit at home idle all day. Not even on a day off. The lugubrious guy needed to know that.

Without another look back, or a glance at the night's past events, Mitsurugi left the little apartment and went to see what the day held for him.

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* * *

_:) ... :/ ... x| Yeah...sorry for the long wait! I didn't mean to take forever... I've been a little busy...trying to get into college and stuff. *sigh* Well ...let me know what you think?  
_


	6. Recount

"Hey, we're going to the gym, okay?"

"What? Why so suddenly?" The voice's confusion was obvious. "I mean, I'm all for burning carbs and getting tighter thighs and glutes on that step-o-matic thingy, but I went yesterday. Every other day is when I go, remember?"

"Well, going two times in a row wouldn't kill you, would it? I'm going today and I don't want to be… _alone_."

Xianghua cast an anxious sideways glance at nothing in particular as she sat Indian-style on her lime-green couch. An untouched cup of milk tea sat on the ornate coffee table in front of her, and the studio audience of a sitcom she was too distracted to watch was laughing at the on-screen actors' antics. Xianghua pensively fingered the stitched designs of the pink decorative pillow that sat in her lap. She wished the girl on the other end of the line would just answer in the affirmative already.

There was a sound on the other end of her cellphone- plastic crackling in the background and the very distinct noise of crunching before the voice picked up again. "Um, what about Boobinator? I thought you guys usually went together."

Xianghua clenched her jaw and almost growled in response. "Cassandra, _please _just come with me to the gym."

An amused snort. "Ohhhh, I get it. She's mad at you." More crackling of plastic, munching, and then a pause. "...And you want me there for security!"

Xianghua had closed her eyes and breathed a nice, long sigh as her blonde friend held a mini-celebration for her self-clarification on the other end of the line, laughing and babbling on about how she should have just said so instead of beating around the bush and that it wasn't right how she got put on the back-burner. Cassandra was right though; she did want her there to be safe. In the event that Taki chose to forget all of her ethics and attempt to hurt her in public, Cassandra would be there as collateral and a witness. At the very least, if Taki somehow got away with taking her life in public, which seemed oddly possible in Xianghua's mind, at least Cassandra would see to it that the vengeful woman couldn't come back to work. But wouldn't that put Cassandra in danger, too? Surely Taki would not forget about the blonde. She would know to be thorough with her crime, so she would come back for her, Xianghua concluded with an unconscious swallow. It'd be dark in the office, and Cassandra would be leaving late after a day of overtime. She'd remember that she'd scheduled an appointment to meet with the President that evening but, before she could get to his chambers, she'd be dead, her throat slit and her head lying in a pool of blood and scattered M-&-M's across her work desk. Taki, brandishing a kunai or something, would only smirk at her handiwork, turn, then jump into the shadows like some sort of cool, kunoichi-assassin...

Maybe Xianghua watched too much television.

"_Chai_!"

"What!?" Xianghua jolted as she was ripped from her horrific musings. She could not, would not let any of that happen to Cassandra or herself! Shaking the last remnants of unease from her thoughts, the young Chinese woman steeled herself.

"Cassandra, I promise we're not going to die! Just please, come with me!"

There was a lengthy pause before Cassandra spluttered and laughed.

"Whatever, Xianghua. I'll be there, even though you have me on speed-dial as the rebound-friend. Just calm down, sheesh."

Cassandra disconnected after one more laugh and Xianghua was left alone on the phone. With a loud sigh, she dropped her head onto the pillow she'd been nervously fingering. Cassandra didn't realize how dire the situation was. She had to make up with her friend! She was positive that if she just went ahead and faced the situation head on, at least she'd see the killing blow coming. Why Xianghua always thought such dreadful thoughts when she crossed her staid friend, she did not know, but she did know that she would get out of this predicament sooner than later. First thing's first, she thought as a doleful expression made its way onto her face when she looked at her phone. She'd have to call the one she had crossed.

* * *

llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllll

Taki pulled down her skirt and stepped out of it and her hosiery upon reaching her bedroom. She had just fed her two felines and proceeded to change out of her work clothes with the hushed voice of the evening news anchor telling her to expect a wind chill later on that night on the television. The Siamese were devouring their food much like they had before she left that morning, and once again showed their gratitude with loud purrs. Her top soon joined the other articles of clothing on her bed, and her earrings were removed and put away in her bathroom. Half aware of herself, she ran a hand through her strands once she had freed them from the bun and stood in the middle of her bedroom, idly staring at her strewn sheets and clothes as her thoughts ran loud and fast like a locomotive with Xianghua as the engineer.

Taki immediately frowned at her turn of thoughts to the Chinese woman. As of late, it seemed that Xianghua was the cause of many of her troubled thoughts on this day and their talk during lunch should have alleviated her anxiety. It did not. For some reason, she continued to replay the rushed narration of what had happened over and over in her mind and tried to deduce the possible plot-holes Xianghua could have personally left out. Knowing Xianghua, she had only told her half the story. The uncut version needed to be found out. All she had gotten from Xianghua was the absolute basics, and even that was roundabout. She sighed shortly and furrowed her eyebrows to match her frown. Always with the games.

Clad in only her underwear, Taki idled while trying to comprehend Xianghua's loopy story.

The two had waited for Kilik and Maxi, she remembered that much on her own. Xianghua had said something about wanting 'hired man-meat' to protect them, even if the real reason was obvious. Taki had no problems with defending herself and she knew that Xianghua was capable of holding her own though she acted otherwise. All she had wanted was an excuse to hang on to the slightly diffident Kilik's arm.

_"You'll protect me, right Kilik? Of course you will! Taki, get Maxi's arm; he'll keep the creeps away even though he's a creep himself."_

_"Hey! Taki, you can grab a hold of my arm...careful though, these cannons are loaded."_

Maxi had purposefully flexed his outstretched arm to which the stoic Japanese woman responded by crossing hers over her chest. She had not paid attention to his reaction, but she had heard his cry of astonishment and Xianghua and Kilik's chuckling when she turned away from them.

_"Come on, beautiful! Drop those arms and show off those sexy-"_

_"Maxi! It's so rude and creepy to stare. Could you cut the 'Ew' act until we get to the club? When we get there, you can turn it back on for the chicks there."_

Taki, tired of waiting, had taken a seat upon Xianghua's bright couch and tried to collect her nerves. She had been, dare she admit it, just a little uneasy about the whole escapade. Of course now she couldn't blame herself for feeling that way at that time. She'd had every right to be nervous.

_"Dude, give me a break! It's just different seein' coworkers outside of work, all dressed up, so pardon me if I look too long without blinking. I can't help it!"_

_"Oh, don't give me that crap Maxi! We ALWAYS see each other outside of the building, especially you and Kilik! You guys are always hanging out."_

_"And I stare extra hard at him sometimes, too. Damn, Kilik, your hair looks extra brown when we're not under those stupid fluorescent lights. Pardon my staring, man. Lookin' good, but not as good as me."_

At that point, Maxi had pulled out a comb and began running it through his hair and checking his reflections in one of Xianghua's decorative wall mirrors. Kilik's unsure laugh came next.

_"…I'm not sure if that was a real compliment, but thank you, Maxi."_

_"Anytime, partner."_

_"Maxi, you're just so…ugh. But if that's the case, how about me, Kilik?"_

Taki's mask of concentration broke and was replaced with a small smirk upon remembering Xianghua's particular line of dialogue that night. She had practically heard her little friend batting her eyelashes and staring up from under them at Kilik, who was probably struggling with his words like he usually did when she her flirting was so overt. She had cast a glance at the two to find that her thoughts weren't too far from the mark. Kilik had looked uncomfortable indeed with Xianghua pressing herself into his arm.

_"Well, yeah. Y-your...hair looks nice and brown in this light, too, Chai."_

_"...But what about the rest of me, Kilik?"_

Xianghua had stamped right in front of him in her five inch heels, her chest high and hands on her hips, presenting him with an easy view of her cleavage. KIlik had taken a defensive step back and appraised Xianghua's attire carefully. It hadn't been his fault that he didn't realize the strapless little red and gold club dress with a design comparable to that of a kimono's had been bought and worn especially for him. With the help of a pushup bra, she had believed that she rivaled even Taki in the boob department, and Taki had to agree after being asked repeatedly whether or not she did, thus boosting her ego even further. Kilik looked like he was having trouble with putting his sentences together and looking nonchalant. He usually did.

_"It looks nice, too. I mean, you look nice in it. It's really...short. And nice." _

His statement was followed with nervous laughter as Xianghua continued to stare up at him. Maxi chimed in without missing a beat.

_"Yeah, ya look nice. You too, Taki. You especially, Taki. Not to rush you guys, but can we head out now? It's almost eleven-thirty."_

Xianghua, after giving Kilik a long critical look, had agreed to head over to the nightclub. Her excitement returned and she practically jumped onto her couch, landing next to Taki.

_"Well," _she'd said, almost vibrating with excitement (maybe she had actually been shaking), _"are you ready for this, Taki? Let's go!"_

Blaring lights, pulsing downbeats, and a mob of people is what Xianghua had taken four hours to prepare the two of them for. To the back of the boisterous line of barely clothed women and men drowned in cologne they all went, and Taki was not impressed to say the least until Maxi called to one of the bouncers up front. After beckoning him over and exchanging some words, they were allowed to skip the line and head into Edge.

Xianghua's voice from lunchtime rang in her head.

_"We walked inside and it was a little packed, but that's nothing new and they were playing the best song for us to walk in to. I swear, Taki! All of the guys were breaking their necks to check us out. Mainly you though since Kilik and I walked in as a couple."_

Taki distinctly remembered being called out to by various men and even women, but was led excitedly to the bar through the many bodies by Xianghua and Maxi with Kilik also in tow. They both wanted to loosen her up, she had guessed. Her guess had been dead on. Xianghua had wasted no time in ordering a round of drinks per Maxi's request and what seemed like Kilik's chagrin, for he had played over his drink a little dejectedly while Xianghua and Maxi knocked the shot glasses back with no problem. In response to her pointed look, Xianghua fessed up and told her that it was just a mixed drink, something to start the night off. Taki took a sip and surveyed her surroundings. It was everything she had imagined it to be. Pretentiously forward men and uncaring women included. It was loud, packed and a lazy thin cloud born from cigarettes permeated the vicinity. Having to yell to be heard above the noise had been annoying.

Taki wrinkled her nose both in memory of the smell, and just the general memory.

She sighed. Back to what she'd been doing. That's right – she had been sitting at the bar, nursing the drink that Xianghua had shoved in front of her. She had not needed Xianghua's constant coercing to finish the drink; it's not like she hadn't consumed alcohol before. It had been a while though, and for good reason.

While Maxi was in her ear asking her to dance and being shut down continuously by her refusal, Xianghua had left her side for a while and exchanged words with the bartender apparently. Xianghua's words at Long's were joking, but Taki had not been amused. She still wasn't.

"_He wanted to know why you were just sitting there like you were in a coffee shop or something instead of at a bar in a dance club, so I just told him that you were feeling a little uptight. He was a nice guy; we just both wanted you to enjoy your night!"_

But she could have enjoyed her night much more if she hadn't had stepped foot into that accursed place. She had though, and she had allowed Xianghua to get her to have another drink that went down easier than the last. She hadn't remembered what it was called until Xianghua reminded her.

"_The bartender made you a glass of STP for free, and he was right when he said you'd probably like it. I mean, I thought you'd like it, too, but you're Taki. Sometimes you're so picky…"_

A snort had followed Xianghua's words, to which she had laughed. Taki could feel the glass in her hand that night and hear some bubbly words from Xianghua and lewd ones from Maxi. She hadn't wanted to be an over-sized burden to her outgoing friend. She told Xianghua to have her fun and not let her spoil it.

"…_But you were so sweet when you told me to leave you alone and go have fun! Any other person would have thought you were trying to be rude, but I knew you were just being a friend. I made sure you were alright for a teensy bit longer before I got on the dance floor with Maxi and Kilik. _

"_Ugh, it sucked once we made it out onto the floor. Kilik could barely two-step without bumping into someone, and when I turned my back for one second to turn down this loser who wanted to dance, I turn around and see some half-naked tramp dry humping him on the wall! I rescue him, and he's laughing like an idiot. He'd only had two shots with Maxi! Speaking of Maxi, he was somewhere…making out with some girl. Oh, oh yeah. Haha, sorry! Back to the point, then..."_

Things after the STP drink's accompanying rush of warmth that flooded through her after its ingestion were a little fuzzy in Taki's mind. The lasting afterthoughts she had were of how warm she felt in her sweater-dress as she adjusted it though she had not even thought of it at all before that moment. There had been a revolving door of men trying to get her to engage in at least small-talk, some who tried to get her to dance. She had turned them all down systematically, but her automatic abstinence had turned a little lax – Taki vaguely remembered her aggravation slowly morphing into mirth at the pointlessness of the men's advances. Things had suddenly felt easier. The bartender that Xianghua had been talking to had suddenly appeared in her line of sight, and she had chatted with him about the party of companions she had arrived with, her general life, her thoughts on relationships…

She really had become quite talkative that night. She felt a sting her chest that could be called abashment, and she could do nothing but blame herself. And the one who's voice rang in her head. She almost forgot. Xianghua was usually always to blame.

"_Well, when I came back, you still seemed pretty," _Xianghua seemed to grope for the right word, and Taki thought she had felt her heart beat a little bit harder in her chest in that moment. It was beating hard now.

"_You still seemed pretty…in control of your facilities. The bartender told me that he had talked with you a bit, and you seemed like a nice woman. Of course when he said that, he was looking down at your boobage, but you were smiling, and I got scared. You don't usually… -Anyway, I thought you were alright aside from that, and you even said so yourself, so, I was thinking 'what's one more drink?', ya know? You were doing pretty well with the first two drinks you'd had. Ya know, there were other drinks around you too. I guess those were from guys who bought you a glass with a side of a stale pick-up line…"_

The volume of Xianghua's rambling faded as a dull tension in Taki's head interfered with it. Reliving her last moments of awareness that night and Xianghua's loopy recap both were embarrassing thoughts all over again as if she were hearing about herself for the first time. She could feel a heated headache coming on, but Xianghua's apologetic voice picked up and she heard the words that made her wonder for the hundredth time that day how she had allowed herself to even _know_ the Chinese woman.

"_I mean…I thought – well, I got you one more drink. It was a great drink. You liked it. Maybe you would have liked any drink at that point… But anyway, it was a great drink. I've had it once and oh my _GOD. _I'm lucky Cassy was with me. She told me I was playing hide-and-go-seek in one of the cabinets behind the bar counter. Please, Taki. Please stop looking at me like that! It…doesn't get that bad after you drank it. Things actually get funny! Oh, uncross your arms and lemme tell you the juicy stuff that happened…"_

Taki's hand found its way to her face as she sank down onto her bed, hot embarrassment washing over her anew. She did not want to think about everything Xianghua had told her. She knew that she was telling her the bare minimum, trying to spare her feelings, but Taki could read between the lines and the possibilities were not so limited pertaining to what she could have done and said that night. When Xianghua tried to quickly smooth over the fact that she had finally taken Maxi up on his offer to dance, jumping to the next subject quicker than called for, her face remained blank, but she could suddenly hear her blood pumping in her ears. Her stomach was a whole different story when she vaguely described the rest of the events. She was glad but also annoyed with Xianghua's ambiguity.

"_Maxi was pretty happy with you that night, after you guys went and danced then came back. I was soooo shocked, Taki! Beyond shock! I swear you had groupies that night, girl! They were everywhere trying to get to you, but me and Maxi had your back. I had to have Kilik's, too, 'cause the dummy can't handle his liquor at all! Jeez, a lot happened that night, haha! After everything that happened there, we took a cab to your place and I walked you in like the loving friend I am! Maxi's pervert-butt tried to come in because as soon as you got to the door, you started stripping… Taki, as a friend, can I just tell you that you're hot? You're hot. I think you might have been feeling inspired by the go-go dancers…"_

Xianghua had made sure that she was in her room, under the covers and on her way to sleep. She had even fed the cats, she'd said. Taki had barely had the voice to thank her for that. Well, at least she knew why Maxi had insisted on pestering her this morning. She grit her teeth at the memory triggered from her memory of that morning. Her jaw clenched and she rested her palm over her eyes again. After a minute of silent self-depreciating, she rose from her bed with a deciding thought: what she could not remember did not transpire. Yes, it was childish ignorance at its finest, but her pride needed patching. Besides, who knew about her vulnerable night? The people she went out with. That wasn't too bad. Oh, wait – her boss also knew and information like this intrigued him to no end. He would be her constant reminder throughout the week. There was also Xianghua's flapping mouth to take into account. A couple other coworkers could know. Who was she kidding? A whole floor of the building could know.

It was times like these that Taki was left to constantly question the camaraderie between her and the Chinese woman once again.

Fighting the urge to sink back to the bed and into more disparaging thoughts, the Japanese woman noted that while she had been mentally occupied, she had already changed into her gym wear – a red workout tank, black spandex capris underneath a pair of warm-up pants of the same color, and a pair of red and black sneakers. Even without being completely aware, her daily routine was something that had to be upheld and followed. With today being Monday, she had a cardio workout to do and some minor strength training. She sighed, and picked out a warm jacket from her closet. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, a water bottle was grabbed from the fridge, and her gym bag next to the door was checked, zipped up, and pulled over her shoulder. The gym was no more than a ten minute walk a few blocks down from her flat. Equally used to her routine, Rekki and Mekki both lounged on their cat tree and watched their owner step outside where the sun was setting low on the horizon. After uttering a parting to them, she locked up and left her door, setting off in the dry, windless fall weather to thankfully work off some of the tension in her body and mind.

* * *

_I can do nothing but apologize to everyone. It's short, but do know that I will keep updating. I can't promise when, but do know that I will. I will be updating my Yun-seong/Talim fic also. I'm sorry to everyone who got a little annoyed with the long gap between updates._


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